Alternative Ending
by Colabear94
Summary: What if at the end of A Piece of Us things didn't end so nicely? This is about Cam coping with the loss of Maya and having to raise his daughter on his own.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I have no ownership over Degrassi**

It was lunch time and I was stuck making up a test I missed earlier that week. I was trying to concentrate but my mind kept wondering off. A glance out the window showed the sun shining brightly, making me wish I was outside eating lunch with Maya instead of inside taking this stupid test.

As I was trying to force myself to concentrate, I heard the door bang open and looked up to see Dallas looking a little out of breath.

"May I help you?" Ms. Pike asked looking up from the papers she was grading at her desk.

"I need to speak to Cam" he stated looking at her.

"I'm sorry but Campbell is taking a test at the moment it will have to wait"

"Not to be disrespectful or anything but it can't wait later" Dallas told her.

"What's so important then that you have disrupted this test" she asked looking a little aggravated.

"It's Maya…" he started to say looking at me.

"Is she ok? Did something happen?" I asked quickly standing up and starting to worry.

"She' fine. She thinks she's going into labor though"

"WHAT?!" I yelled a little louder than I meant to while starting to shove my stuff quickly into my bag "but she isn't due for another two and a half weeks. Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Guess baby Saunders wanted to make an early appearance. She's down in the office waiting, you might want to hurry."

"I'm sorry Ms. Pike but I got to go" I told her quickly making my way towards the door.

"Wait just a minute" she called "You need to finish this test. I think this Maya will be fine without you."

"Listen, that's my girlfriend about to have my baby. If I have to receive a zero just so I don't miss it then that's fine by me."

With that said I walked out of the classroom and all but ran to the office. I saw Maya through the window, sitting in one of the chairs, and looking extremely uncomfortable. I was just about to enter when Maya's mom showed up.

After what seemed like forever, we finally reached the hospital. I helped Maya inside and she was immediately checked into a room.

"You ok?" I asked Maya once the nurse left after injecting the epidural.

"Better now that the pain is easing up" she replied.

"That's good" I said holding onto her hand.

After what felt like an eternity, it was time. The nurses quickly set everything up just as the doctor came in and checked on Maya.

"Ok, when I say push do so" Dr. Bell instructed.

Maya gave a weak nod then grasped tightly onto my hand. After another fifteen minutes, our baby finally entered the world.

"Congratulations, it's a girl" the doctor said.

After a few more minutes, our daughter was placed into Maya's arms.

"We'll leave you guys for a moment. A nurse will be in shortly to check and make sure everything is ok" The doctor said before leaving.

"She's beautiful" Maya whispered.

"As beautiful as her mother" I said staring down at my baby girl.

"You're so cheesy sometimes" Maya giggled. "but I love you so it's ok"

"I love you, too" I said kissing Maya on the forehead. "Can I hold her now?"

"What kind of stupid question is that" Maya retorted before handing me our daughter.

"Hey Peyton" I said quietly placing a light kiss on her head "I'm your daddy and I'm so glad to finally meet you"

"She's gonna be such a daddy's girl" Maya said watching the two of us.

"I don't see a problem with that" I replied just as a nurse walked in.

"Isn't she just precious" the nurse said "Have you decided on a name yet?"

"Peyton Skylar Saunders" Maya announced happily.

"Well that's a pretty name" the nurse said smiling at us. "Now I just need to run a few preliminary tests on the baby and get the rest of the information for the birth certificate"

"What tests?" Maya asked looking worried.

"It's nothing to worry about." She answered reassuringly "there just to make sure everything is working fine"

"Oh" Maya said "before you take her though could you take a picture for me"

"Of course" she answered.

"Cam can you give her your phone, I forgot mine in the car"

"Yeah, here" I said loading up the camera and handing it to the nurse.

The nurse quickly took the picture of the three of us then set about doing what needed to be done.

"I'm going to go call and tell my mom. Will you be ok for a few minutes?" I asked.

"Of course, can you send my family in while you're out there?"

"Will do" I answered giving her a quick kiss on the cheek "Love you"

"Love you too" she replied.

I made my way out to the waiting room to find Mrs. Matlin, who was joined by Travis, Katie, and Mr. Matlin at some point, looking extremely anxious. When she saw me she hurried over.

"Is she ok? How'd it go? Is the baby here yet?" she rattled off without a breath.

"Everything is fine" I replied smiling before looking at the rest of the group gathered "It's a girl"

"Oh, can we go see her" Katie asked "Yeah she's waiting for you guys"

It took no more than that and they were off down the hall. I made my way outside where the sun was starting set. I pulled my phone out and dialed the all too familiar number. After a few rings someone finally picked up.

"Hello" I heard Justin say.

"Hey Justin, is mom around?"

"Cam?" he asked

"Yeah it's me. Can I talk to mom?"

"Oh yeah" he replied a few moments later I heard my mom's cheerful voice over the phone.

"Cam" she exclaimed "It's so good to hear from you. How is everything? How's Maya? And the baby?"

"That's actually why I called" I said

"Everything's ok right?" she asked sounding worried

"Everything's wonderful actually. She was born just a couple hours ago and is in perfect health"

"She. It's a girl. Oh that's wonderful Cam" my mom exclaimed. "But wait, I thought the baby wasn't due to till next month. We were going to come down and surprise you but I guess that's out now"

"It's fine mom" I told her

"Well I'll talk to your father as soon as he gets home and see if we can head down there tonight"

"No need to rush" I told her.

"Of course there is. I want to meet my first grandbaby" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Well I got to go mom" I said wanting to get back to my daughter and Maya.

"Yeah, of course go" she said "I'll see you soon. Love you."

"Love you, too" I answered before hanging up my phone and heading back inside.

The moment I reached Maya's room I knew something was wrong. Nurses and doctors were crammed into the room. Immediately I thought something was wrong with the baby. I entered the room, praying that Peyton was ok. I don't know what I would do if something happened to my baby girl. Dr. Bell noticed me and gave me a sad look.

"Let's step outside" she said.

"What's going on? Is Peyton ok?" I rattled off quickly.

"Your daughter is just fine" she reassured me.

"That's goo" I breathed out a sigh of relief "then what's going on?"

"It's Maya" she told me solemnly "Her stitches didn't set right and she started bleeding horribly. She lost too much blood, I'm sorry but she…"

"No" I shouted cutting her off refusing to believe what she was saying.

"I really am sorry" she said placing a hand on my shoulder as I slowly tried to process what she was saying.

I quickly sank to the floor willing myself not to cry. I couldn't stop it though as the doctors words finally sank in, and I let the tears fall freely. Maya's gone, I thought, and she's never coming back.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this first chapter of this story, and thanks to Balmz for giving me the idea for this story. I know it's different from the way A Piece of Us originally ended but that's kind of the point. I'm not planning on changing t0o much from the original story just a few things that I felt fit well with this story that I forgot to add to my last. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Also, if you have any better suggestions for a title please let me know because I can't seem to come up with a good one. Hope your all well. ~Colabear94~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi in any way, shape, or form**

Two weeks. That's all it's been since the greatest day of my life, and also the worse. . I lost Maya. I hated to admit it, but it's the truth and I can't deny it no matter how hard I try.

It wasn't long after the news spread that I decided I couldn't stay in Toronto anymore, and I especially couldn't stay in Maya's house any longer. The day after Mayas funeral, which was only four days after her death, I packed up my stuff came back home.

I didn't tell anyone I was coming back to Kapuskasing, well other than Maya's parents. The last couple weeks I've received numerous messages from people including Dallas, Tori, and Tristan. I didn't want to talk to them though.

Currently, it's a little after two in the morning and I just got Peyton to go back to sleep. I knew I should be sleeping too since my mom decided it was time for me to go back to school. No matter how much I tried to tell her I didn't want to go back, she wouldn't hear of it. She kept telling me that it's too close to the end of the school year for me to miss anymore and that it wouldn't do good to fail the year. I then tried to use the excuse that I had no one to watch Peyton, which I knew was going to fail the moment I said it. She told me she is perfectly capable of taking care of her, and that it will just give her something to do during the day. I didn't have the energy to argue with her anymore, so she left to go reenroll me Kapuskasing High.

I laid in my bed watching the numbers slowly transform from one to the next. I must of fell asleep at some point because the next thing I knew I was being woken by Peyton crying, loudly. It took a minute before her cries fully registered though, but when they did my eyes shot open. I got out of bed and made my way over to Peyton's crib on the other side of my overcrowded room.

"What's wrong baby girl?" I whispered as I picked her up.

A quick check revealed the need for a diaper change. Just as I finished changing it, my alarm went off for the day. I turned the alarm off and made my way down stairs with Peyton so she could be fed before I got ready for what was sure to be a long day.

When I reached the kitchen I found my mom already up and moving about the kitchen. I warmed up a bottle and took a seat at the table before she noticed me.

"Morning Cam" she said brightly "And how is my beautiful granddaughter doing?"

"Morning" I mumbled, starting to feel my lack of sleep catch up to me.

"Here give her to me and you go get ready for school, you don't want to be late on your first day back" she said.

"Do I have to go back?" I asked her yet again.

"We've discussed this already" she said "I've given you two weeks, now it's time to start moving on with your life. I know it's going to be tough but it's for the best besides moping around your room all the time isn't going to change anything. Do you really think Maya would be happy with the way you've been living?"

I know Maya would be pissed if she saw how I've been living. I spent all my time up in my room only leaving when I absolutely had too. I nodded towards my mom and made my way back to my room, and placed Peyton in her crib.

I changed into an old pair of jeans and an old hoodie, that stilled had a faint scent of Maya from all the times she wore it. After running a brush through my hair and brushing my teeth, I went back downstairs and into the kitchen. I took Peyton back from my mom and took a seat at the table just as Justin made his way into the kitchen.

"Ready to go" he asked looking towards me.

I only nodded before getting up and reluctantly giving my daughter a quick kiss on the forehead and handing her to my mom.

"Have a great day sweetie, love you" my mom said.

"Love you" I replied before falling Justin out to his car.

We spent the short 10 min drive to school listening to one of Justin's CD's on full blast. I guess since he isn't allowed to play music so loud in the house anymore, something he has continues to complain about since I moved back with Peyton, he has to make up for it in the car. Though the music was aggravating, I chose to not say anything not wanting to start an argument with him so early in the morning.

We got to the school and Justin quickly found a parking spot. As soon as he cut the ignition, I grabbed my bag and got out of the car. I kept my head down as I made my way into the school and towards the office.

"Hello Campbell" Mrs. Velli greeted me "I'm glad to see your back. How's your mom doing? I haven't heard from her in a couple weeks."

Mrs. Velli is an old friend of my mom's. She used to baby sit me and my siblings all the time when we were younger.

"Hey Mrs. Velli" I replied "My mom's doing fine, things have just been a bit hectic lately"

"That's good to hear dear" She replied "And how are you?"

"I'm just here to get my schedule" I told her avoiding the question; I honestly didn't feel like explaining anything right now, especially when I'm trying so hard to forget myself.

"Oh, of course" she said finding my schedule among the mess on her desk. "Here you go. I assume you still remember where everything is"

"Yup" I replied thinking that Kapuskasing High is a pretty small school so it would be hard to forget where everything is.

"Good, now you better get to class, you don't want to be late on your first day" she said "And tell your mother to call me.

I gave her a slight nod and made my way out of the office. Math, my first class of the day, was only a couple doors down. As I entered I noticed that most of the class was still pretty empty, and thankfully nobody paid me much attention as I walked up to the teacher's desk.

"Hello you must be Campbell" he said looking up at me "I'm Mr. Thomas. It's nice to meet you"

"You too" I replied just to be nice when in reality I'd much rather be back home.

"Well let's see, the third seat back by the window is open if you'd like to sit there and I'll get you your textbook"

I went over to my seat and a few seconds later a textbook was sat on my desk. While I waited for class to start my thoughts couldn't help but drift to Maya. I couldn't really help it, I missed her. I still find it hard to admit that she's actually gone.

"CAM" I heard somebody yell from across the room. I looked around and found Alex walking over to me. "I didn't know you were back. Why didn't you let us know?"

"Guess I've just been busy" _Ignoring everyone._

"Well that's no excuse. You have to hang out with us later." He said "James and Logan will be so glad to hear your back"

"I can't" I said

"Can't? Why not?" Alex asked

Just then Mr. Thomas started the class and Alex shut up. As soon as class ended I quickly made my way out of the class before he could start talking to me again. It's not that I wasn't glad to see my friends, I just didn't want to deal with them right now. I'm just not ready to tell them what's happened.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by surprisingly easy. Classes actually gave a good distraction from Maya; I guess my mom was right getting back to life may help. While it didn't push her from my mind or make me mourn for her any less, it still helped to have something else to concentration. Once the final bell rang, I made my way quickly out to the parking lot and towards my brothers car, where he was making out with some chick.

"Hey" I shouted.

"Go away Cam" he replied.

"I would but you're my ride home"

"Fine" he sighed before looking at the girl "I'll see you later ok?"

"Maybe I could come over to your place" she said

"Maybe" he replied before she walked away.

We got in the car before Justin turned to me.

"What was that for?" he asked starting up the car.

"What was what for?" I asked.

"You know what" he exclaimed "Disturbing me and Kim"

"Sorry" I replied sarcastically "But some of us want to get home"

Justin ignored me the rest of the way back to our house. Once we got to the house, Justin stopped long enough to let me out before taking off again.

I made my way inside the house, just wanting to see my daughter and maybe get a little sleep. When I entered the living room, I found my mom sitting on the couch and hugging a very familiar looking girl.

"Chloe" I said surprised.

**Thanks to my one and only reviewer last chapter, DanseChick, it meant a lot. Also sorry it took so long to get this chapter up internet has been down at my house and finally thought to bring my laptop to school to update. Hopefully chapter 3 won't take as long, and always please leave a review letting me know what you thought! ~Colabear94~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Degrassi**

"Hey Cammy" she said coming and giving me a hug "You miss me."

Chloe is my cousin. She's about two months older than me and we use to be really close. Right before I went to Toronto though, her and her family moved across the country. We ended up losing touch so I haven't talked to her in over a year.

"Of course" I replied pulling out of the hug "How long are you here for?"

"Actually my dad just got transferred back so I'm coming home" she answered happily.

"That's great" I told her giving the first genuine smile I have in a long time.

"You have to tell me everything that's been going on in your life" she stated "I've seriously missed talking to you"

"I will" I told her before looking over to my mom "but first where's Peyton?"

"She's upstairs napping" my mom replied.

"Who's Peyton?" Chloe asked.

"My mom didn't tell you?"

"She only just got here when you showed up" my mom stated.

"Well, follow me then and I'll introduce you"

I led Chloe upstairs. We made our way towards my room, where I quietly opened the door in case Peyton was still sleeping. As we entered I found Peyton lying in her crib just staring up at the ceiling.

"Hey princess" I said going over and picking her up, and then walked back over to Chloe "This is Peyton, my daughter."

"Wait, what?" Chloe replied looking shocked. "You can't be serious?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?"

"Well no" she said "This just isn't what I expected when I came back"

"You've been out of contact for a year, a lot can change in that time" I told her.

"You're right" she said taking a seat in my desk chair "Tell me how old is she?"

"She just turned 3 weeks"

"Is it alright if I hold her?"

"I guess" I said before carefully handing her over "Just be careful"

"She's so cute" Chloe said looking down at her "What about her mom?"

"She's dead" I told her as I felt the tears prick my eyes as I admitted out loud that she was gone for the first time. The unexpected appearance of Chloe distracted me from my constant thoughts of Maya.

"Oh Cam" Chloe said getting up to hug me "I'm sorry. What happened?"

"It wasn't long after Peyton was born. Something went wrong and they couldn't save her"

"That really sucks" Chloe said "I'm sorry this happened to you."

"It does" I said "Maya was wonderful and I miss her like crazy but you what the worst part is?"

"What?" Chloe asked handing Peyton back to me.

"That Peyton is going to have to go through life without her mother."

"At least she has you though. I mean you're not sinking into some dark hole and hiding from the world" Chloe said.

"I thought about it" I told her "but then Maya would have found a way to kick my ass for not taking care of Peyton"

"I'm pretty sure the whole family would have to be honest" she replied.

The next hour Chloe and I just spent time catching up on the minor details of life. We seemed to fall back into the old friendship we had fairly quickly. Eventually though she had to go back home. After saying good bye and a promise to hang out soon, she left.

Once she was gone I decided to try and get a little sleep before Peyton woke me. I told my mom I'd eat later, and headed upstairs to my room. The moment I laid down on my bed, my lack of sleep seemed to hit and I was out.

**A/N: I am so sorry that this took me forever to update and even sorrier that it's such a short and crappy chapter. I would love to say I'll work harder on quicker updates but at the moment that would be a lie. With April approaching I got visitation day, the MTTC, a short story to write on Harry Potter (with no ideas so suggestions would be greatly welcome!) and finals. So I gues in short I'm appoligizing in advance for the long absence that is about to come.**

**Now to thank my reviewers from last chapter: Islanda, DanseChick, and anon. It means a lot that people actually take the time to review. Suggestions, thoughts, just a simple like it/hate it just please leave something because I honestly do appreciate the feedback! ~Colabear94~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I still have no ownership of Degrassi, bummer**

Tired has become a permanent state for me lately. Between school and Peyton, I'm lucky I get to sleep at all. Well, I guess now it's just taking care if Peyton since school let out for the summer a couple days ago. Still raising a baby is exhausting and even worse when you're on your own. I'm glad my mom helps me as much as she can because if she didn't I don't know what I would do.

Last night Peyton was up crying nonstop for hours. By the time I finally got her to go back to sleep the sun was starting to creep up, and I only managed to get a couple more hours sleep in before I was awoken by an insistent knocking on the door.

I looked over to Peyton, glad that she was still asleep, and quietly made my way out of the room to see who was here, and knocking so loudly. By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, Justin had already answered the door to my old friends. For the last two months I've pretty much been avoiding them. Not because I didn't like being around them anymore but with my busy schedule, and since I'm still coping with Maya's death, I thought it best to just stay to myself and to take care of my daughter.

"Hey, Cam" I heard Alex call way too loudly as him and Logan pushed their way past Justin and towards me.

"Quiet" I shushed him, afraid he would wake Peyton up. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Let's see" Logan said mockingly "You've been back for two months now and you hardly said a word to any of us so we've decided it's time we dragged you out to hang out with us"

"I can't" I told him.

"Why not?" they both exclaimed.

"Because I have nobody to watch Peyton"

"Who?" Alex questioned.

"My daughter" I replied.

"Oh yeah" Alex said "I forgot that you knocked up some girl"

"Her name was Maya and she wasn't just some girl" I snapped at him.

"Wow, touchy" Alex said "Oh, hello Mrs. Saunders"

"Hey boys, what are you two doing here today?" She asked cheerfully.

"Trying to get your son to hang out with us" Logan answered.

"Why don't you go Cam, you've hardly been out of this house since you got home. I mean it's been two months you've got to start moving on with life eventually"

"What about Peyton?" I asked her knowing shell just agree to watch her but it was my only hope of not having to go out.

"She'll be fine with me, you go get out of the house be a normal teenager for a couple hours" She told.

"Fine" I agreed reluctantly knowing there was no way I was going to win.

"We win" Alex yelled.

"Be quiet before you wake her" I told him.

"Oh, sorry" he replied.

"I'll be back in ten just let me change real quick" I told them.

I made my way back to my room and changed into a clean pair of jeans and an old Degrassi t shirt. I quickly rand a brush through my hair and grabbed my phone and wallet, stuffing them into my pocket. I went to check on Peyton and noticed that she was just waking up.

"Hey princess" I said picking her up. "How are you doing this morning?"

Her answer came in a soft cry, that I knew would start to get louder soon. I quickly changed her out of her wet diaper then took her downstairs so my mom could feed her. I found everyone sitting in the kitchen.

"About time dude" I heard Logan say.

"Bite me" I retorted handing my mom Peyton "I just changed her but I think she's hungry"

"Don't worry, I've got it you go and I don't want to see you back in this house for at least a couple hours got it?" my mom said.

I gave her a slight nod, gave Peyton a kiss, and then followed my friends out the door.

"We finally got Cam out, now let's go get James and we can have some fun" Alex cheered.

It was a short walk over to James' house. Alex knocked on the door and a few seconds later James was answering it.

"Come on" Alex said to him, which was apparently all he needed to here because five seconds later he was out the door.

We ended up at the ice rink, where we spent the next couple hours playing a pick-up game of hockey. Eventually though we were done, for which I was thankful. It's been awhile since I've played, top that with exhaustion and it wasn't my best.

"What's with you Cam?" Alex asked as we entered the diner we use to always go to "Your dragging ass today."

"Just tired" I replied.

"So you going to tell us why you've been avoiding us since you got back and why we had to drag you out today?" Logan asked as we placed our order.

"I've had a lot on my plate" I told them.

"Oh yeah, so how is life as a daddy?" Alex teased.

"Exhausting" I tell them.

"Tell us something we don't know" James replied rolling his eyes "Like how is the baby mama? Is she staying with you?"

"I don't wanna talk about it" I tell them, which is perfectly true. In the last two months I have grieved over my loss of Maya constantly. It's just in the last couple days that I've found myself starting to fully accept that she is gone.

"Come on you can tell us" Alex prodded "What did you two break up? Did she ditch you with the baby?"

"It's not that"

"Then tell us" Logan said. "Where is she then?"

"She's dead" I told them "End of discussion"

"Oh, sorry we didn't know" Logan said looking regretful for prodding.

"Its fine how could you know" I told them as our food arrived.

"How about after we eat you introduce us to your daughter?" James said switching the topic.

"Yeah all we got was a brief glimpse of her earlier"

"Sure, why not" I answered.

An hour later we were back at my house. I found my mom sitting in the living room rocking Peyton.

"Hey baby girl" I said taking her out of my mother's arms glad to be back with her. I'm not use to having to leave her except for school, and even then I still miss her like crazy every time I have to leave. I took Peyton out to the back porch where my friends sat waiting.

"Guys this is Peyton" I said.

"Wow, she's actually cute" James said.

"I know" Alex replied "Who would have thought that something as ugly as Cam could have a cute kid"

"Shut up" I replied letting out a slight laugh.

I took a seat in one of the chairs outside and continued to talk and joke with my friends. I didn't realize how much I actually needed them in my life till today. It made me regret trying to push them away these last two months. That afternoon was the most relaxed I felt since I left Toronto.

**A/N: The semester is finally over which means I have the next for months free to write, the only downfall is I lost my outline to this story so if anyone could give me ideas on where I should take this please let me know. I know this chapter sucks but one I couldn't remember where exactly I was taking this story and two I'm writing this half dead asleep so apologies in advance. Also I'd like to thank whoever reviewed last chapeter, normally I'd name you but I'm to lazy to, but those who reviewed know who you are.**

**Please don't forget to leave me a review this time around. A simple like it/ hate it works, or ideas on where to go next. Reviews do encourage me to write faster, plus they make an excellent belated birthday gift! Thanks in advance ~Colabear94~**


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